I just read a magazine article in Deer and Deer Hunting Sept.2002 where they talk about a Nebraska game ranch study where they showed 25-55% of elk with no copper supplement got CWD, of those with copper sulfate supplements 5-7.5% got CWD and a third group of elk that got the daily recommended allowance of copper, 0%, i.e. none as in zero, got CWD. Pretty amazing link there Bob!

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Tom, we've known about copper deficiency problems for some time and have always "beefed up" the copper in our supplemental feed. I think really at the present time at this new location I am having some copper problems as I have not fed the same rations I did at Lubbock and my animals are not doing as well as I'd like. Bob

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You guys got it all figured out then, huh??
Should we open up a copper mine in Ft. Collins, CO??? Or maybe just leave the CWD in the animals and all us hunters should up our doses of copper. I personnally will start eating pennies right away. One a day , and at the end of a year I will finally be worth something........($3.65) Wooo hoooo. Look out Ft. Collins and Wisconsin Cause I am gonna come and eat all those infested deer.

Are you guys sure it isn't lead that they are missing out on??? I personnally would start them all on a 200 grain a day lead diet. One pill apiece Bbarc.(300 win mag would be my choice of feeding utencils) If you need help feeding them , let me know I will get on the next flight down and help you out. I will eat the proper amount of copper before I leave , to ensure my safety after giving out all the lead pills and eating all the infected animals.

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I've attended more than a couple seminars on elk nutrition. Just because there is copper present in the ground doesn't mean that the trees and grasses pick it up in a form that the elk can use. Seems that they can get a fair amount from aspen. Notice all the bite marks on aspen??Also notice that elk will not eat all the bark all the way around a standing aspen, but will COMPLETELY peal a freshly fallen aspen??Whether your anti game ranching or not doesn't matter here as copper deficincy is a problem that really can affect free ranging and farmed animals as well.

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Bob, I am finding this very interesting. In a study done in Yellowstone after the 88 fires, it was noted that the elk would eat the charred bark off the trees (or so I was told). Do you think there is a connection here also?

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This, all in all would make a lot of sence....If you park a bunch of animals in an enclosure, and miss them on a couple of key nutrients. The inherent problems of the outside animals and the enclosed animals would show very different results. The same results would still show up in a few animals on the outside because some would just not be in the right place at the right time to get every thing they need. This would also answer some of the posts brought up where animals from a great distance from the infected areas was also getting it also. But not any thing in the surrounding areas...

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Huh??
Are you saying that if all the game farms in Montana, would have been feeding the wild elk some nutrients along with there penned up herd elk , that CWD would be non-existant???
Come on dude, I know your all for the capitalistic part of the elk ranching phylosophy, but jesus, think about what your saying. Give em vitamins and the whole problem is solved. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA mother f-innngggggg HAAAAAA??

The only supplement that game farm elk need is LEAD. Plain and simple. Ohh yeah, and then you have to burn all the ground that they lived on , also.
But I'm sure that, that is only because you need to smelt all the lead out.
Not trying to be an ass but , just because a few guys are making money off of it, doesn't make it right.

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Wolfskin, There's no reference for the Nebraska study given in the article I read so its hard to evaluate the study. It sounds like scurvy doesn't it? The sailors ate fruit and the disease was gone from the ships. The areas with CWD are said to be low in copper too. Your solution, shoot them all, really would wipe all elk out, so I hope there is a better one. You don't have to think about it, other people will, and hopefully there will be elk and deer to hunt for us all for a long time.

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I guess some elk are alive simply because its illegal to kill them. You'll have to get another initiative passed if you want to shoot the game farm elk in Montana now, its illegal now although your method of cure used to be legal Wolfskin. Haven't they determined you have to burn the diseased ones up at high temperatures, like over 1000 degrees, not just shoot them?

The Deer and Deer Hunting article says the areas where CWD is in the wild are areas where the ground is low in copper. If this link of CWD and copper is a good one, it would be good for wildlife there to try and put copper supplements there.